Senior Manager Landscape Design in Birmingham

Location: Birmingham or London

Base salary: £54,878pa to c.£64,562pa depending on skills and experience. In addition, we offer a flexible benefits fund of 20% which is paid on top of base salary and is fully pensionable, as well as a range of competitive benefits.

HS2 Ltd endeavours to ensure everyone working for us and with us feels included, thrives and achieves their full potential. In practice, this means we are positive and inclusive about making adjustments, providing flexible working, encouraging our staff networks to flourish and providing personal and professional development opportunities.

About The Role

As Senior Manager Landscape Design you’ll play a critical leadership role strategically directing, defining and assuring the technical requirements and guidance, providing specialist landscape design expertise to the hybrid Bill and Delivery Teams and ensuring that an integrated and holistic landscape design is achieved. You will lead on bringing together information on Public Realm and Landscape from a complex range of sources to manage and guide the design integration to deliver the Objectives of the Design Vision, Design guidance, Environmental Minimum Requirements, Strategic Goals and Objectives, Benefits and cost compliant integrated delivery of the project. The role holder will provide qualitative assurance and verification at senior management level on key design issues across a defined geographic area, working closely with members of the Integrated Project Teams and the Natural and Built Environment team in their technical assurance role.

Responsibilities

• Be the Lead Subject Matter Expert (SME) for all Landscape Design and Public Realm matters across Main Work Civils Contracts, Stations and Systems contracts and Infrastructure Management contracts, working with multidisciplinary teams to set strategic objectives, assure outcomes and drive Design Vision compliant outcomes across contracts and stakeholders.
• Lead design discussions at various levels and between multiple contract teams and promote an integrated approach to Landscape Design.
• Collaborate with stakeholders (up to Director level) and lead engagement and presentation processes with Natural England, Forestry Commission, Canal & River Trust, Local Highways, Planning Authorities and subject matter experts within HS2 Ltd.
• Coach, up-skill and influence colleagues to ensure Landscape Design issues are a key consideration in project decision making and management processes.
• Lead a small team of Landscape Architects and consultants, providing day to day strategic design leadership, setting technical standards and ensuring a coherent approach to Landscape Design.
• Be responsible for client technical support and assurance related to Schedule 17 (planning) Application packages and reducing programme risks through engagement with Local Planning Authorities during pre-application discussions.
• Be responsible for budgets as delegated by line manager.
• Work in close collaboration with and provide regular progress updates to the Head of Natural Environment Design (line manager) who will provide strategic leadership and be a public face of HS2 Landscape Design.
• Ensure safety is a key priority in all aspects of the role.
• Actively promote and embed Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) in all your work, and support and comply with all organisational initiatives, policies and procedures on EDI.

Skills

• Leadership skills including effective problem solving, ability to delegate, giving and receiving feedback and managing conflicting requirements.
• Presentation skills to deliver complex written and oral communications and presentations suitable for a broad audience and a diverse group of stakeholders.
• Risk Management Skills – including the ability to assess, analyse and escalate risk.
• Analytical skills – including the ability to compare, assure and provide analysis on information coming from a variety of sources.
• Influencing and negotiating skills – including the ability to influence senior decision makers and management on matters related to Landscape Design.
• Review and Assurance skills - including the ability to compare, assure and provide analysis on information coming from a variety of sources.
• Project management skills – ability to co-ordinate and manage multiple workstreams.
• Mentoring and coaching skills that can help and guide junior colleagues in acquiring meaningful experience of design and engineering within an infrastructure environment.

Knowledge

• Degree in Landscape Architecture or equivalent.
• Chartered Member of the Landscape Institute.
• Must be conversant with relevant Landscape Architecture standards and able to interpret in a railway/ transportation environment.
• Understanding of cost delivery, schedule targets and the need to deliver an integrated, compliant solution that meets all design and functional requirements.
• Understanding of how Landscape Architecture and design related disciplines fit within the overall multidiscipline context and dependencies.
• Understanding of working in complex organisations and project workplaces.

Type Of Experience

• Leadership in delivery of complex Landscape and Public Realm schemes in a multi-disciplinary design and delivery environment.
• Experience of complex programmes and/or projects with an understanding of how the discipline fits within the overall multi-disciplinary context and interdependencies.
• Developing implementation mechanisms of complex landscape and design related projects.
• Working as part of a multidisciplinary management team within a large, complex project.
• Project planning and organisation to meet significant project deadlines.
• Giving risk-based advice to senior stakeholders.
• Experience of working on regeneration and masterplanning projects.
• Experience in undertaking design reviews and critiquing as well as mentoring project teams to achieve high quality design proposals.
• Experience in developing pragmatic analysis, strategies and assurance processes.

The post-holder is expected to behave at all times in a manner consistent with the HS2 values of Safety, Leadership, Integrity and Respect. It is expected that you will actively promote and embed Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) in all your work and support and comply with all organisational initiatives, policies and procedures on EDI.

As HS2 Ltd do not hold a sponsorship license from the Home Office, we are not able to provide sponsorship to any applicant. Applicants must already have the Right to Work in the UK at the time of application and our process involves a Right to Work validation prior to the interview stage. Note, there are certain types of time-bound visas that we cannot accept. Any offers made to applicants will be subject to satisfactory completion of pre-employment checks which include Nationality & Immigration Status, employment references, DBS, Financial and Education checks.

We ask for a variety of detail in your online application; however we perform the first assessment of suitability for a role based solely on the information in your CV. In a further development of our efforts to create a more diverse workforce, your CV will be anonymised and personal information will be removed during the first stage of the application review. This removes bias from the process and makes it even more important that you attach an updated Word version of your CV for each new application ensuring you include evidence directly related to the criteria in the job advert. Any applications received after the closing date will not be considered.

About Us

High Speed 2 (HS2 Ltd) will be the UK’s new high speed rail network. As well as improving capacity, the new scheme will shorten journey times between a number of Britain’s major population centres, boost the economy and create thousands of jobs. HS2 Ltd will create a skills legacy and develop a diverse range of talent. We aim to be a leader in EDI practice by creating a safe & inclusive working environment for all our staff - living our values of Safety, Respect, Integrity and Leadership. In practice, this means we are positive and inclusive about making adjustments, providing flexible working, encouraging our staff networks to flourish and providing personal and professional development opportunities. HS2 Ltd is also a safety-critical organisation. Employees are required to ensure reasonable care of their own and others’ health and safety by taking personal responsibility for working to our ‘Safe at Heart’ programme principles and following safe working procedures at all times.